Film review: House of Gucci
Lady Gaga excels in Ridley Scott’s fashion soap opera

You’d have to have the “humbuggiest of hearts not to be charmed” by this Christmas film, said Cath Clarke in The Guardian. “Lavishly adapted” from Matt Haig’s kids’ book, it kicks off in modern-day London, where Maggie Smith is a Mary Poppins-ish great-aunt to a trio of siblings. She has a story to tell about a boy called Nikolas (the “delightfully urchin-faced newcomer” Henry Lawfull), who lives in Finland with his woodcutter dad (Michiel Huisman). They’re so poor that when the “dotty king”, played with endearing petulance by Jim Broadbent, offers a reward to anyone able to “bring hope to the land”, Nikolas’s father goes in search of a fabled kingdom of elves, and is eventually followed by Nikolas himself. The film has “semi-unsentimental” things to say about grief, but is above all a Christmas movie, made for “little ones” parked in front of the telly on Boxing Day, while the adults are all “a bit drowsy on Quality Street”.
It’s aimed at children, but this delightful film will “embrace the whole family in a warm cinematic hug”, said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. There’s a flying reindeer, a silly king, a cackling crone, fabulous special effects and “just about every other ingredient you might wish for” in a festive film. It’s “an early Christmas cracker”. The world it conjures is beautifully constructed, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph, but I am afraid I found the film “an unlovely hybrid of the garish and the mawkish”. Beneath its “Paddington-meets-Potter” storybook skin, “its bloodstream runs with purest gloop”. Characters are more likely to grate than charm, and some of the casting “borders on self-sabotage”, with Stephen Merchant appearing as the world’s least likely talking mouse.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Y chromosome degrades over time and men's health is paying for it
Under the radar The chromosome loss is linked to cancer and Alzheimer's
-
One great cookbook: 'I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to)'
the week recommends The endless ease and versatility of a painless dinner
-
Sudoku medium: May 7, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
A journey into Egypt's western desert
The Week Recommends There is much more to be found in Egypt when straying from the usual tourist destinations
-
Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style: full of 'revelations and surprises'
The Week Recommends The Design Museum's sweeping collection of all things swimming contains hidden depths
-
The Ugly Stepsister: 'slyly funny' body-horror take on Cinderella
The Week Recommends Emilie Blichfeldt's cutting Norwegian revision of the classic fairy tale leaves no character unscathed
-
John Boyne shares his favourite books
The Week recommends The bestselling novelist picks works by Tobias Wolff, Christos Tsiolkas, and Agatha Christie
-
The Brightening Air: a 'gripping' family drama
The Week Recommends Connor McPherson's Chekhovian drama about a pair of siblings whose lives are upended by the arrival of their relations
-
6 isolated homes for hermits
Feature Featuring a secluded ranch on 560 acres in New Mexico and a home inspired by a 400-year-old Italian farmhouse in Colorado
-
Allies at War: a 'revelatory' account of the Second World War
The Week Recommends Tim Bouverie's 'old-fashioned diplomatic history' explores the often fraught relationship between world powers